17th ILO Regional Seminar for Labour-Based Practitioners
Ministers from 9 countries call for an employment-intensive approach to create jobs and ensure income security to achieve the sustainable development goals (SDG)
Ministers from some 8 African and 1 Asian countries at the 17th Regional Seminar for Labour Based Practitioners have called on the International Labour Organization (ILO) to support the formulation of employment-intensive investment strategies that support local capacity building initiatives, build vocational training capacity, and establish monitoring and evaluation systems.
ADDIS, Ethiopia (ILO News) – Ministers from some 9 countries at the 17th Regional Seminar for Labour Based Practitioners have called on the International Labour Organization (ILO) to support the formulation of employment-intensive investment strategies that support local capacity building initiatives, build vocational training capacity, and establish monitoring and evaluation systems.
The Ministerial Declaration was issued at the end of the ministerial segment held during the 17th Regional Seminar where discussions focused on the steps required to achieve the sustainable development goals. The Ministers present made a commitment to realign their employment programmes to sustainable development goals (SDG) and to develop sustainable financing through national investment budgets and other financing sources.
The Ministers also called countries, Regional Economic Communities, the African Union and Regional Development Banks to support the financing of employment-intensive investment projects that respond to national and local needs, addressing the root causes of protracted crises, and improving the coherence between humanitarian assistance and development, within the framework of the SDGs, AU Agenda 2063, Ouagadougou +10 on employment and the Paris Climate Agreement.
The five-day seminar attracted some 520 practitioners, planners, policy makers, researches, and funding and development partners from the African region and beyond. This included some participants coming from as far as Timor-Leste where significant headway is being made through the employment-intensive Rural Road for Development and Enhancing Rural Access through Agro-Forestry projects.; and Nepal which hosts the Strengthening National Rural Transport Programme – all three programmes which are supported by the ILO.
In the spirit of “Leaving no one behind”, it was stressed that stronger action is required at the local level to strengthen the decentralization processes and that the SDGs offer conditions to generate more opportunities for decent work, optimizing the use of local resource and expertise, as well as strengthening the skills of local businesses.
National and regional dialogue were encouraged to adapt policies to enhance resilience through community participation in order to mitigate the negative impacts of and adapt to climate change and advocate for a just transition through employment policies and programmes which promote employment-intensive investment, green and decent jobs.
The seminar is a great example of South-South collaboration organized every 2-years by a host African country and allowing for a series of technical presentations and the sharing of experiences and applications of this approach between countries. This year’s themes included: Conducive investment and infrastructure development policies for job-rich & inclusive growth; Technology options and innovations for pro-employment and sustainable infrastructure delivery; Job creation and resilience through infrastructure development in fragile situations; and Enhancing local capacity building initiatives through South-South collaboration.
The Seminar this year was organized by the Ethiopian Roads Authority (ERA) under the Ministry of Works and Urban Development and supported by the ILO’s Employment Intensive Investment Programme (EIIP). Ethiopia was unanimously nominated, also allowing it to show case its long experience in the use of labour-based technology, targeting youth.
From its humble beginning and what started as a small gathering of 21 labour-based engineers in Mabeya, Tanzania in 1990, the Regional Seminars have grown significantly and are held at different venues which are voted on by the participants each time. The last seminar was held in Cotonou, Benin under the theme “Facing the Challenges of Sustainable Development in the Context of Decentralization with Employment intensive Investment Approaches”. The next country to host the 18th Regional Seminar will be Tunisia.
The Ministerial Declaration was issued at the end of the ministerial segment held during the 17th Regional Seminar where discussions focused on the steps required to achieve the sustainable development goals. The Ministers present made a commitment to realign their employment programmes to sustainable development goals (SDG) and to develop sustainable financing through national investment budgets and other financing sources.
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The five-day seminar attracted some 520 practitioners, planners, policy makers, researches, and funding and development partners from the African region and beyond. This included some participants coming from as far as Timor-Leste where significant headway is being made through the employment-intensive Rural Road for Development and Enhancing Rural Access through Agro-Forestry projects.; and Nepal which hosts the Strengthening National Rural Transport Programme – all three programmes which are supported by the ILO.
In the spirit of “Leaving no one behind”, it was stressed that stronger action is required at the local level to strengthen the decentralization processes and that the SDGs offer conditions to generate more opportunities for decent work, optimizing the use of local resource and expertise, as well as strengthening the skills of local businesses.
National and regional dialogue were encouraged to adapt policies to enhance resilience through community participation in order to mitigate the negative impacts of and adapt to climate change and advocate for a just transition through employment policies and programmes which promote employment-intensive investment, green and decent jobs.
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The Seminar this year was organized by the Ethiopian Roads Authority (ERA) under the Ministry of Works and Urban Development and supported by the ILO’s Employment Intensive Investment Programme (EIIP). Ethiopia was unanimously nominated, also allowing it to show case its long experience in the use of labour-based technology, targeting youth.
From its humble beginning and what started as a small gathering of 21 labour-based engineers in Mabeya, Tanzania in 1990, the Regional Seminars have grown significantly and are held at different venues which are voted on by the participants each time. The last seminar was held in Cotonou, Benin under the theme “Facing the Challenges of Sustainable Development in the Context of Decentralization with Employment intensive Investment Approaches”. The next country to host the 18th Regional Seminar will be Tunisia.